Dear Thorobred Family,

This past Saturday, Kentucky State University gathered for one of the most meaningful days of the academic year: Commencement.

Across two ceremonies, we honored the Class of 2026, one of the largest graduating classes in recent University history. We recognized students who completed their degrees, families who helped carry them to that moment, faculty and staff who guided them along the way, and a University whose work is measured most clearly in the lives it helps transform.

Commencement is always a day of achievement. This year, it also served as a powerful reminder of Kentucky State’s momentum.

Including the full Class of 2026 cycle, Kentucky State awarded 428 degrees and credentials, with 346 this spring. That total represents a 28 percent increase over last year and a 112 percent increase from the number of degrees and credentials awarded four years ago.

Behind those numbers are individual stories of perseverance, sacrifice, support, and purpose.

This class reflected the breadth of Kentucky State’s reach and responsibility. Half of this year’s graduates are from Kentucky, up from 36 percent last year, while the full class represents 26 states and nine countries. Our graduates earned associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees, along with certificates, across programs that reflect the strength of this University and the needs of the Commonwealth.

They included future nurses, business leaders, scientists, educators, agricultural professionals, researchers, public servants, entrepreneurs, and community leaders. They included students who completed degrees in three years, students who returned to complete a goal later in life, and 30 high school seniors who earned associate degrees through Kentucky State’s dual-credit program while also completing high school.

Among the many stories that gave meaning to this year’s Commencement was Zhakeya Hawkins, our 2026 valedictorian speaker. Hawkins arrived at Kentucky State having already completed her associate degree while still in high school. She then completed what would ordinarily be her final two years of undergraduate study in one year, earning a 4.0 GPA while serving as an 1890 Scholar and competing as a scholar-athlete.

That 1890 Scholar designation is especially meaningful at Kentucky State. The USDA 1890 National Scholars Program provides full educational support for students attending one of the nation’s 19 historically Black land-grant universities, including opportunities for paid summer internships with USDA.

Hawkins next plans to pursue a Ph.D. in data science, with a goal of using machine learning and geospatial technologies to expand agricultural opportunity, strengthen communities, and help solve real-world challenges in food and natural resource systems.

In her Commencement address, Hawkins, a track and field standout, described education not as a race, but as a relay. That image is fitting for this University. Each generation of Thorobreds carries forward what it has received, then hands something stronger to those who come next.

That is what Commencement made clear. Kentucky State prepares students to lead. It is strengthened by families whose support makes degree completion possible. It is carried forward by faculty and staff whose work changes lives. And it remains deeply connected to access, opportunity, academic excellence, and service as Kentucky’s public HBCU and 1890 land-grant institution.

With another Commencement complete, summer begins — and the work of the University continues.

Summer is often quieter on campus, but it is not a pause in our responsibility. Faculty and staff are supporting summer courses, preparing for the fall semester, advising students, advancing research and Extension activity, maintaining the campus, strengthening operations, and continuing the institutional planning required by Senate Bill 185.

That work must be handled carefully.

At the academic level, program review has continued through start, stop, and grow conversations about the future of Kentucky State’s academic offerings. Rather than relying on one conversation or one perspective, the University created two independent review groups composed of faculty, staff, and students. Each group worked through the same core questions while reviewing program-level data, student needs, faculty expertise, accreditation responsibilities, workforce alignment, and Kentucky State’s emerging polytechnic direction.

The next stage, which brings that input together for further review, is nearing completion. Review by the University’s leadership team follows. From there, a fully developed report is expected to be ready by May 28 for review by the Board of Regents before being shared by June 1 with the Council on Postsecondary Education as required by Senate Bill 185.

As recommendations move forward, student completion, teach-out planning, advising, and clear communication will remain essential responsibilities.

That same care will guide us as we review the federal lawsuit recently filed in connection with Senate Bill 185. The University was not involved in the filing of the lawsuit, did not coordinate with the individuals who filed it, and was not aware of the action before it occurred. As a public institution, Kentucky State University will continue to follow all applicable laws and work collaboratively with state and federal partners in fulfillment of its mission.

I understand that this moment may raise questions. Headlines, legislative change, legal proceedings, and institutional transition can each create uncertainty. For that reason, we must continue to distinguish carefully between what is known, what is still under review, and what has not yet been decided. That discipline helps protect trust, support students, respect faculty and staff, and move through this transition with the care Kentucky State deserves.

As we move into summer, I ask each of us to hold on to what Commencement made plain. The work before us is not abstract. We saw its meaning in students like Zhakeya Hawkins and in hundreds of graduates whose families, faculty, and staff helped them reach that stage. We saw it in the opportunity Kentucky State continues to create, and we see it now in the disciplined responsibility to honor who we are while building what comes next.

Since 1886, Kentucky State University has prepared students to earn degrees and lead lives of purpose. That mission lives in our classrooms, laboratories, residence halls, offices, farms, research centers, alumni networks, and communities. It lives in the Class of 2026, in the students who will return this summer and fall, and in the people of this University who choose, day after day, to serve something larger than themselves.

Commencement reminds us why this work matters. As summer begins, we carry that purpose forward together, guided by our mission and confident in Kentucky State’s future.

Onward and Upward,

Koffi C. Akakpo
President
Kentucky State University